Box setting-up machine



Aug. 15, 1961 F. B. TRELFORD BOX SETTING-UP MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 18, 1959 ATTORNEYS Aug. 15, 1961 F. B. TRELFORD BOX SETTING-UP MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 18, 1959 BY 7&5) 46. M W n A'ITORNEYs Aug. 15, 1961 F. B. TRELFORD 2,995,991

BOX SETTING-UP MACHINE Filed Feb. 18, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEYS F. B. TRELFORD 2,995,991

BOX SETTING-UP MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Aug. 15, 1961 Filed Feb. 18, 1959 BY 4 M wfi/zz.

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 2,995,991 BOX SETTING-U1 MACHINE I Franklyn Bruce Trelford, deceased, late of Willowdale, 5 Ontario, by John Stafford Haze Beck, administrator,

Toronto, Ontario, Canada, assignor, by mesne assignments, to F. N. Burt Company, Inc., Buffalo, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 18, 1959, Ser. No. 794,104 Claims priority, application Canada June 5, 1958 6 Claims. (CI. 93-51) This invention relates to a new and improved machine for performing a setting-up operation on box blanks and the like wherein the setting-up operation involves the engagement of a corner lock formed on the blank.

Set-up machines of one form or another have been known in the art for many years, and although some such machines have enjoyed substantial success from time to time, there have remained certain limiting features whereby the setting-up operation has not been as satisfactory, trouble-free, and rapid as is desirable to meet the requirements of packaging plants where the need for a high rate of continuous uninterrupted and trouble-free production becomes ever more demanding as a result of continuous improvement in packaging machinery designed to handle packages following the setting-up operation. In addition, to meet the foregoing requirements the ideal setting-up machine must have sufiicient versatility that it can be readily adapted to handle different shapes and sizes of blank upon simple adjustment by the user as the low unit cost of production of set-up blanks cannot carry a high inventory of separate machines for different sizes of blank nor can it carry periods of enforced idleness and high labour costs which would result from adjustment to accommodate different sizes and shapes necessitating extensive alterations to the machine and a substantial inventory of precision parts for adaptation from one side or shape to another.

The setting-up operation in general comprises the upward folding of side and end walls, the opening of slots in a pair of said walls, and the folding of locking flaps on the other pair of walls and feeding of the same through the open slots into locking engagement so that the four walls are thus locked in upright position upon release from the setting-up machine. One particular problem which has limited production rates has resulted from ditficulties which have been encountered in obtaining release of the set-up blank from the setting-up means owing to the engagement of the walls of the carton for purposes of opening the slits. In a high speed machine, stripping must be instantaneous and consistent if stoppages are to be avoided.

Certain of these prior machines employ a so-called die through which a blank is forced by means of a mandrel, the action of the die on the wall panels and flaps of the blank during passage therethrough being such as to fold the walls into upright position and engage the corner locking means provided in the blanks. In one of these machines the entire locking engagement is created by engagement of the walls and flaps with the surfaces of the die. As the clear space in the die must be; larger than the bottom panel of the blank, the locking engagement must be complete before the side and end walls have reached a position at right angles to the bottom:

2,995,991 Patented Aug. 15, 1961 manner from the portion thereof which overlies the bottom panel of the blank for purposes of positively engaging the locking tabs to deform the walls into locking engagement therewith. This produces a more upright locked Wall structure, but does so at the expense of rapid and trouble-free stripping as the said fingers must remain in contact with the wall and locking structure after the blank has cleared the bottom of the die.

According to the present invention, an improved die and mandrel structure is provided which enables a positive locking action with the walls in the upright position, but yet which leaves the set-up carton free to fall downwardly from the mandrel after passage through the die thereby enabling trouble-free stripping at very rapid rates of production.

The invention generally comprises guide plates, slot opening rollers and hold open plates on the die which open the slots by inward pressure against the outerside of the blank and guide the locking flaps into the open' slots, while the mandrel is recessed and provided with tongue-twisting means to receive the locking tongues as they come through the open slots and twist them into positive locking engagement, there being no projections outwardly from the mandrel extending beyond the area vertically above the bot-tom panel of the blank.

Other objects and features of novelty will be apparent from the following specification when read in connection with the accompanying drawings in which one embodi-l ment of the invention is illustrated by use of example;

In the drawings, 1

FIGURE 1 is a general perspective of a setting-up machine according to the invention looking from the feed station toward the die with the mandrel removed. 1

FIGURE la is a general perspective of the setting-up machine illustrated in FIGURE 1 viewed from the other side of the nip rolls.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary perspective of a corner of the die showing details of the components of structure which function to form the blank and engage the corner lock.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary perspective showing one end of the die as the blank is being pushed therethrough by the mandrel, the latter not being illustrated for purposes of clarity.

FIGURE 4 illustrates the engagement of the mandrel with the flaps passing through the opened slits during passage through the die. FIGURE 5 shows the engagement of the tonguetwisting elements with the locking tongues just prior to the completion of passage through the die.

FIGURE 6 illustrates the outside of the corner of the blank at the stages of operation illustrated by FIGURE 4.

FIGURE .7 illustrates the corner of the blank from the inside after completion of setting up.

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary top plan view of the mandrel and FIGURE 9 is a side elevation of the mandrel.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, it will be observed in FIGURE 1 that the setting-up machine of the invention has a loading platform 10 which is equipped with hold down roller 11 mounted in sad dle 12 supported from plungers 13 which are slidably engaged in bushings 14 in bracket 15, so that the roller 11 may move up and down and when a stack of blanks is placed underneath on the loading table 10, the weight of the roller 11, saddle 12 and plungers 13 will bear down on top of the stack to retain the stack in placei In front of the loading table 10 are the nip rolls '16, which are driven at constant speed continuously, said rolls being mounted and driven in the manner conven-' tional in the trade. Mounted on shaft 17 below the loading table are the feed rollers 18. The shaft 17 is ed supported on bushings 19 and 19:: which are supported on the shaft 16a of the lower nip roll, the shaft 17 being belt driven from the shaft 16a by a conventional pulley. drive (not shown), whereby the shaft 17 may be swung about the shaft 16a. Not shown is a kicker mechanism actuated at the end of the withdrawal stroke of the mandrel, which causes the shaft 17 to rise momentarily whereby the feed rollers 18 engage the underside of the lowermost of a stack of blanks positioned under the hold-down roller 11 advancing the lowermost blank into engagement with the nip rolls which advance it toward the die. As the blank clears the nip rolls, the finger 50 swings forward to engage the rear edge of the blank, carrying it forward into engagement with the adjustable stops 20 and 20a, which stop the blank in registered position with the opening of the die. The finger 50 is actuated in timed relation to the mandrel by conventional mechanism (not shown). Mounted on the bar 51-, is the guide plate 52 which is positioned as illustrated in FIGURE la and guides the leading edge of the blank as it emerges from the nip rolls. The bar 51 is secured to the frame of the machine. As illustrated in FIGURE la, the nip rolls 16 are each formed in two A 'aeaaaat 4 spring formers 42' which assist in folding the ends of the blank against the ends of the mandrel as the latter forces a blank through the die.

As will be apparent, the width of the die may be adjusted by altering the position in which the forming blocks 26, 27, 26a and 27a are secured to their respective frame members 28 or 29, and the length of the die may be adjusted by adjusting the spacing of the frames 28 and 29, the shafts and 25:: being of suflicient length to permit a substantial amount of adjustment. It will also be appreciated that although there has been shown only four rollers 21,. 22, 23 and 24 on each shaft,

, this number is arbitrary and may be varied to suit any particular conditions. The mandrels, being of wood, may suitably be made individually for each size of blank to be set up, and the tongue-locking pieces 39 may suitably be made of easily machinable metal in standard sizes to suit standard sizes of blank. 'Thus, the only halves providing a gate 16b at the middle to provide the necessary clearance for the finger 50. As the feed mechanism which has just been described is per se conventional, it will not be described in any greater detail than has already been given.

The sides of the die of the invention are formed by a plurality of forming rollers 21, 22, 23, 24, 21a, 22a, 23a and 24a secured to the shafts 25 and 25a, which are rotatably mounted in forming blocks 26, 27, 26a and 27a. Said forming blocks are suitably grooved to receive the end frames 28 and 29 whereto they may be secured in adjusted position by suitable securing bolts 30 which extend through slots 31. The corner rollers 21, 24, 21a and 2411 are provided with a marginal flange 32 adjacent their outer ends for purposes which will be explained later. The forming blocks 26, 27, 26a and 27:; are bored and bushed to mount rotatable shafts 33 (see FIGURE 3) on the ends of which are mounted the conical slot opening and guide rollers 34 which are accommodated within a cut-away portion of the forming block. Secured to the forming block below the cut-away portion and in a position shown best in FIGURE 2 is the open slot retaining bar 35 and the folding plate 36. Thestructure at each corner of the die is similar to that just explained and illustrated most effectively in FIG- URE 2.

The mandrel which is mounted appropriately in conventional manner for a working stroke causing it to pass vertically downwardly through the die is generally reetangular in cross section and of a size commensurate with that of the bottom panel of the particular blank which is to be set up. As shown in FIGURES 4 and 5, a' plurality of holes 37a are appropriately formed in. the mandrel plate 37 to enable air to find easy passage between the bottom of the plate and the bottom panel. of a formed blank in order to assist stripping. The mandrel plate 37 may appropriately be made from a. block of wood with its edges bevelled slightly inwardly from the bottom thereof as indicated at 38 in FIGURE 4. 011 each end the mandrel plate 37 carries a tonguelocking piece 39 so positioned that the outer surface of the said plate will be substantially in vertical register with the. fold. line between the end panel and the. bottom panel of a blank being formed. The ends of the mandrel plate 37 are suitably notched in the regionbetween their edges to provide clearance. for the slot. opening rollers 34 on passage of the mandrel plate through the die. The tongue-locking pieces 39 are formed at either side with the slanted slots 40, and the ends of the pieces 39-are inwardly bevelled to provide the formingbevels '41.

Optionally, there may be. attached to the; frames 28 overhead item involved in changing from one blank size to another in the machine of the present invention is a wooden mandrel plate and two readily produced tonguelocking plates which may for instance be formed from V aluminum strip stock and thus represent a substantially negligible investment in special tooling. It will be appreciated that the mandrel plate 37 and the tonguelocking pieces 39 may be made from any suitable materials and that if desired the whole plate plus the tonguelocking pieces could be formed as an integral unit. In operation, however, it has been found most satisfactory to form these parts in the manner described above.

In operation, the machine described above functions as follows: The end of the withdrawal stroke of the mandrel actuates the feeder raising the feed rollers 18 into contact with the lowermost of a stack of blanks held beneath the hold-down roller 11. The thus engaged blank is advanced by the nip rolls 16 to a position limited by stops 20 and 26a above the die. As the mandrel descends, the mandrel plate 37 engages the top surface of the bottom panel of the blank B forcing the blank downwardly between the various rollers in the forming mechanism. In the primary action, the slotted end walls C are bent towards a vertical position by the action of the curved portions 36a of the folding plates 36.

As the mandrel plate 37 moves further downwards, the slots D- are opened by reason of the outward portions of the. walls C being pressed inwardly by the rims of slot opening rollers 34. The slots are held open as the downward movement. continues by the slot retaining bars 35. At the. same time, the side walls E are formed upwardly by the. forming rollers 21, 22, 23, 24, 21a, 22a, 23a and 24a, and the flaps F are, being bent inwardly and guided into the. open slots by the action of the forming surfaces 27b. on forming blocks 27, and the forming surfaces Ma on the slot opening rollers 34.

As the downward movement progresses, the tongues pass through the. open slots and engage the tongue-twisting surfaces 41 of the tongue-locking pieces (as best shown in FIGURES 4 and 6) which deflect the points of the locking tongues G inwardly beyond the opening of the slots to form a lock in the manner best illustrated in FIGURES. 5i and 7, the latter figure being an inside view of the corner of a set-up carton after the locking has been eifected.

It will bev noted that the ends of the walls C are cut away sufficiently to allow the sidewalls E to be bent beyond 90. This slight extra bending is effected by the flanges 32. on the forming rollers 21, 24, 21a and 24a so that when. the plate forming operation is completed and the mandrel has carried. the blank. all the way through the die, the walls can spring back substantially to a 90 angle with the bottom panel, locking the corner substantially in the manner illustrated in FIGURE 7.

At this point, the locking tongues which originally engaged the bevelled surfaces 41 will be riding'against the upper surfaces of the slanting slots 40 and will be urging and, inEthe. space. between the; forming plates 36' the thewhole set-up blank downwardly in relation to the mandrel plate 37. As the reverse stroke of the mandrel commences, the aforesaid action and the momentum of the blank taken together with the action of the air access holes 37a causes the blank to be cleanly stripped from the mandrel and to continue in a downward path for deposit in an appropriate product receptacle. Meanwhile, the mandrel returns to complete its return stroke and the setting uptcycle is then repeated.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A set-up machine comprising a die and a mandrel, said mandrel being generally rectangular and having a lower face which is adapted to engage a panel of a blank to be set up entirely within score lines defining said panel, said mandrel being mounted for reciprocal movement through said die, said die comprising first forming means adapted to fold into upright position a first pair of walls of said blank attached to said panel at said score line and having locking slits adjacent the edges thereof, second forming means for folding to upright position a second pair of walls attached to said panel at said score line and having locking fiaps and tongues projecting from the ends thereof, third forming means arranged to fold said flaps and guide the latter into said slits as said second pair of walls is being folded to upright position, narrow slit opening means on said die adapted to open said slits by inward pressure against the outer surfaces of said first pair of walls closely adjacent said slits and on the respective outward sides of said slits, tongue engaging means on said mandrel adapted to engage the locking tongues on said flaps as the latter pass through said slits to twist the same into positive locking engagement with the edges of said slits, and narrow hold-open means on the die positioned downwardly of the slit opening means and in substantial vertical alignment therewith for retaining said slits open after the blank has passed the slit opening means and during the completion of the locking operation.

2. A set-up machine comprising a die and a mandrel, said mandrel being generally rectangular and having a lower face which is adapted to engage a panel of a blank to be set up entirely within score lines defining said panel, said mandrel being mounted for reciprocal movement through said die, said die comprising first forming means adapted to fold into upright position a first pair of walls of said blank attached to said panel at said score line and having locking slits adjacent the edges thereof, second forming means for folding to upright position a second pair of walls attached to said panel at said score line and having locking flaps and tongues projecting from the ends thereof, third forming means arranged to fold said flaps and guide the latter into said slits as said second pair of walls is being folded to upright position, slit opening means comprising a frusto-conical roller on said die with its rim of greatest diameter projecting inwardly and adapted to open said slits by inward pressure of said rim against the outer surfaces of said first pair of walls closely adjacent said slits and on the respective outward sides of said slits, tongue engaging means on said mandrel adapted to engage the locking tongues on said flaps as the latter pass through said slits to twist the same into positive locking engagement with the edges of said slits, and relatively thin plates set edgewise with respect to the first pair of walls and positioned downwardly of and in vertical alignment with said rim of the slit opening roller for retaining said slits open after the blank has passed the slit opening roller and during the completion of the locking operation.

3. A set-up machine comprising a die and a mandrel, said mandrel being generally rectangular and having a lower face which is adapted to engage a panel of a blank to be set up entirely within score fines defining said panel, said mandrel being mounted for reciprocal movement through said die, said die comprising first forming means adapted to fold into upright position a first pair of walls of said blank attached to said panel at said score line and having locking slits adjacent the edges thereof, second forming means for folding to upright position a second pair of walls attached to said panel at said score line and having locking flaps and tongues projecting from the ends thereof, third forming means arranged to fold said flaps and guide the latter into said slits as said second pair of walls is being folded to upright position, slit opening means on said die adapted to open said slits by inward pressure against the outer surface of said walls adjacent said slits, and tongue engaging means on said mandrel comprising tongue elements carried by the side edges of the mandrel which lie adjacent the respective walls of the first pair, said tongue elements projecting laterally outwardly but terminating adjacent the slits short of the extent of said sides of the mandrel, said tongue elements having under-surfaces inclined inwardly and up wardly of said marginal edge, said edge also being similarly inclined to provide inwardly and upwardly inclined slots, the outer ends of the tongue elements also being bevelled on their inward sides, said tongues adapted to engage the locking tongues on said flaps as the latter pass through said slits to twist the same into positive locking engagement with the edges of said slits.

4. A set-up machine comprising a die and a mandrel, said mandrel being generally rectangular and having a lower face which is adapted to engage a panel of a blank to be set up entirely within score lines defining said panel, said mandrel being mounted for reciprocal movement through said die, said die comprising first forming means adapted to fold into upright position a first pair of walls of said blank attached to said panel at said score line and having locking slits adjacent the edges thereof, second forming means for folding to upright position a second pair of walls attached to said panel at said score line and having locking flaps and tongues projecting from the ends thereof, third forming means arranged to fold said flaps and guide the latter into said slits as said second pair of walls is being folded to upright position, slit opening means on said die adapted to open said slits by inward pressure against the outer surfaces of said first pair of walls adjacent said slits, and tongue engaging means on said mandrel adapted to engage the locking tongues on said flaps as the latter pass through said slits to twist the same into positive locking engagement with the edges of said slits, said first forming means comprising relatively thin forming plates secured in vertical position to said die and edgewise to the respective walls of the first pair.

5. A set-up machine comprising a die and a mandrel, said mandrel being generally rectangular and having a lower face which is adapted to engage a panel of a blank to be set up entirely within score lines defining said panel, said mandrel being mounted for reciprocal movement through said die, said die comprising first forming means adapted to fold into upright position a first pair of walls of said blank attached to said panel at said score line and having locking slits adjacent the edges thereof, second forming means for folding to upright position a second pair of walls attached to said panel at said score line and having locking flaps and tongues projecting from the ends thereof, third forming means arranged to fold said flaps and guide the latter the latter into said slits as said second pair of walls is being folded to upright position, slit opening means on said die adapted to open said slits by inward pressure against the outer surfaces of said first pair of walls adjacent said slits, and tongue engaging means on said mandrel adapted to engage the locking tongues on said flaps as the latter pass through said slits to twist the same into positive locking engagement with the edges of said slits, said second forming means comprising a plurality of axially spaced and aligned rollers positioned at a lower level than said first forming means J to engage and form said second pair of walls after said first forming means have engaged and commenced to form said first pair of walls.

6. A set-up machine as defined in claim '5, wherein Said rollers are each provided with a peripheral flange arranged 5 to engage the terminal portion of said second pair of walls to force the latter slightly past a 90 angle with said panel during passage through said die.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Gnoerk May 4, 1947 Palmer Mar. 30, 1948 Pagendarm Oct. 3 1950 Hickin et a1. July 29, 1952 Johnson et al Dec. 16, 1958 Brown Mar. 22, 1960 

